Lead or Follow, It’s Time for Peace

As we make decisions in our lives, we have to be very certain that we’re opting for Peace.

Some of us are leaders, and our choices must have Peace at the heart, each and every time. Some of us are followers, and you cannot lead all of the time, but those we choose to follow must be Peacemakers.

Our decisions need to be that clear — not simple, but clear.

Often those choices get framed in terms of sacrifice. What do we have to give up to make space for Peace. Those are good questions.

But we don’t hear enough about what we gain… not only the big, grandiose gains… Peace in our Time… but Peace in our lives… How would that enrich us? Who would our new neighbors be? What do we get to learn as we negotiate around the hard places?

There are a host of things that I can no longer budge on. The safety of women and children and their well being, space for people whose gender identity or religious identity are different than mine, and Peace. Peace, Peace, Peace. Leading or following Peace.

Peace. Lead. Follow. Or, really, Get out of the way.

Get on the Peace Train to Somewhere Fabulous!

I like traveling. I like meeting new people. I like trying new foods. I like the sea (lake, river, pool, hot tub) anywhere I find it (them).

So in my 20s traveling through Europe on trains was extraordinary and so exciting. Venice wasn’t my first big adventure, but it was a fabulous one.

I liked traveling alone. I liked doing it with friends. I often had destinations, so I didn’t have to get off the train and not know where to go, although plenty of folk do well with that. But I saw things and I met people and I ate local cuisine and I swam in the waters. Life is filled with loveliness and interesting people. Interesting people from foreign lands have new perspectives on Peace. It’s always good to encounter those…

Yes, every place has its own share of challenges, but we have to encourage the lovely things. We have to talk with people not like us and find new ways to work together for the good. We have to put ourselves in the way of the hateful in every way we feel able. Let us be the ones who make a difference. Let us be those who make Peace.

And oh, visit sunny Venice before it sinks into the sea. It’s gorgeous, filled with history, water and beauty. And wild, wonderful people and great food. It has plenty of problems to contend with, but it also has its own Peace.

Look at the Bounty; Find the Peace

Things keep happening. And all we see is the scarcity and the lack.

We have to look at what people are doing. We have to look at the hate.

But we also have to remember the incredible bounty. We have to remember that the well is not dry. We must fill ourselves up for the work ahead of us.

It’s summer. The gardens are pumping out vegetables as fast as they can… That abundance is there to nourish our bodies. It is also a reminder to our empty souls and broken heart that there is what is needed if we decide to share it. There is what is needed to renew our spirits.

It’s good if we take a look, because we need to keep ourselves strong… there is so much that is wrong so we must be strong to Peace. You and I, together, digging through all the grime. Peace. We can do this.

Beautiful Sabbath Dawn to Ease our Souls

A new day.

I remember the mornings after receiving horrible news, when you start awake, realizing what you’ve lost; that everything awful is true; that you’ll always live life differently than before.

And yet even then, morning brings an insistent reminder that the world continues. Even then, the world tries to say there is beauty, even if you’re not ready to look.

Eventually you awaken and, one day, find the world beautiful, even if only for a second before reality reminds you that life is hard.

Life is hard and filled with loss. But it is also beautiful, and we can fill it with hope.

We remember the fallen with love. We gather the pieces of our hearts. We endure. And eventually, we move forward in love. We move forward into Peace. You just have to keep living long enough to find the Joy again. Wishing you Peace in all your struggles, even those as monumental as this one was.

May the Sun Go Down on our Commitment to Peace

We’re the ones who hold Peace in our hands.

So, are we the ones to hold Peace in our hearts?

What are we going to do about Peace?

If we continue to shake our heads and ignore it… life will not change…

I’m asking myself a lot of questions. I’m reading a lot. We can’t keep living like this. It’s not good for the planet, it’s not good for the humans.

Isn’t it time we gave Peace a chance. I keep thinking, man to the moon, explorer to Mars… Peace ought to be within our grasp… It definitely ought to be within our sights.

So, let’s try an experiment… every time we notice that something is beautiful, think of Peace. Every time we notice that something is not beautiful, make it more so. Start with the little things. Care about your environment. Join a group that does good work. Do something. Make Peace. Every day. Everyday Peace.

Everyday Peace Comes with Purpose

People talk easily about a dog’s life. Oh, they don’t do anything but lie around and relax.

But dogs have a purpose with their pack. They repel intruders. They find food. and yes, they sleep — so they can repel the intruders. Give them a little pleasure, like the chance to jump in a body of water or dash around a field an they’re happy. Give them what they need and every day is filled with Peace for them. When they don’t have those things they’re either aggressive or timid.

We have purpose as well, It might be doing this or that… anything from plumbing to writing — but I begin to believe, more and more, that we are here to make Peace.

We do a lousy job at it. Perhaps because of that, the world is letting us know just exactly how much it needs us to play an active role in Peacemaking.

I don’t know exactly what that role looks like, but I do know it’s necessary. Pick up a newspaper. Look around your town. Check out the environment. The world needs us. It needs me. It needs you. We’ll do different things. But we all must be about the business of Peace. Every day.

And because Peace is hard work, we should probably also take a few naps along the way, and spend some time dipping our toes in a body of water or racing around a field. It’ll make us happier. Being happier will make us a better Peacemaker, don’t you think?

So, next time you see a dog snoozing, remind yourself that naps help us get ready for the other things we need to do. Peacemaking, for the pups and for us.

Peace at the Local Counter

It was funny to think about today’s picture from the Farmers’ Market which I was looking at before I left town. I like lunch counters. Eating at one is such a different interaction than eating at a table. You become part of the life of the restaurant and the churn about getting food out. This counter serves up local food.

Then, there’s a diner I always eat at when I fly from Baltimore, I was happy to be there. So it was funny to look up and see friends at the airport also working their way West. We had a great conversation, I’d actually wanted to speak to the two of them, so Kismet!

And then later that day to be with my dear friend, standing at the counter getting drinks to go along with our dinner in the park in Sebastopol. Counters, counters, counters… life, life, life.

In this time of racial unrest, it would be wrong not to remember that what is so pleasant for me, has been a symbol of oppression for others… oppression that may have been cleared at lunch counters, but not been eliminated.

There’s work to do so that counter eating can just become that…

We should do the work and then we should enjoy the counter experience. It’s not fine dining, but it’s often, as they say where i come from, good eating…

Peace with you, my friends, as we go about the work of Peace and go about the eating…

The Peace of Growing Corn

Corn fields are really quite noisy… have you ever noticed?

They sway and rustle in the wind.

And they grow.

You can’t really hear the corn grow, can you?

This time of year, when the ears have finally formed, they seem to grow inches in a day.

It takes a long time to be as high as an elephant’s eye.

So corn does what it’s supposed to do. We’ll eat no corn before its time.

So, nothing to do but wait and watch it grow. Enjoy the Peace of that.

Or gee, use that time to make Peace somewhere else, because pretty soon, the corn will be demanding your attention. That’s just how the cornstalk grows!

The Many Peaces at the End of the Dock

This picture may well be as close as i get to a picture of heaven.

The satchel with my books, my towel, my little chair, and my iced tea jug were obviously put down to snap the shot!

I often think when i see shots like, (and i disregard my healthy skepticism about heaven), that my best-beloved, long-departed are in another cove also out of sight. My family you know. Heaven will have a lot of water.

But here at this moment there is nothing but silence and beauty. And Peace. For me, a whole lot of Peace. There’s the Peace of Sitting. The Peace of Swimming. The Peace of Floating. The Peace of Being. The Peace of the Gentle Quiet.

Today I start my reading sabbatical. Today I dive into this Peace.

I wish you Peace and Quiet as well. Revelry too. but not today! Today it’s Peace and Love and Blessings…

A Side of Peace with the Leftovers

Leftovers can be great. They can also be left-overs because no one really wanted to eat them.

Summer time, we think mostly about the salads and fun things. Winter leftovers are heavier. Both seem to get tastier with time.

Right now, however, we have a lot of leftovers that are not tasty salads, but rather are the dregs of tribalism that allow us to think that one tribe is better than another. It’s killing our brothers and sisters and it’s going to kill us.

And that we need to deal with every time that dish gets served up. Everyday Peace cannot be taken to mean find the Peace where you are and ignore the rest.

We have responsibilities. Let’s get at them. We may not know what they are, but we can figure it out. We’re incredibly smart

I mean, she says wonderingly, we got to the moon, we can get to Peace. let us Peace. And is there any more of that cold sesame noodle thing?

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In